Stroke patient forced to wait in hospital hallway

The State Government is being urged to resolve delays in the region's public hospital emergency departments after an 80-year-old stroke victim failed to get prompt treatment at Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital.

The Health Services Union says after being taken to the John Hunter the man waited in a hallway for two hours and suffered a second stroke before being told no beds were available.

It says ambulance officers monitoring him refused a request to transfer the patient to Belmont Hospital.